Today is the Spring Equinox, the First Day of Spring! The sun and the earth are in their places. Hopefully the weather will get the message soon! It’s at this time of year that the sun is directly in front of you if you’re heading west near the time of sunset, or east at sunrise, making driving a bit of a challenge. This happens because wherever you are on the planet, the sun is rising due east and setting due west.

When I was teaching Earth Science in high school, I celebrated this day with my students in a way I hoped they would remember what the equinox is all about. Twice a year on the days of the spring and fall equinoxes, I would bring cupcakes to school – but not just any cupcakes. These were Equinox Cupcakes: half chocolate and half yellow, with frosting to match, representing the fact that on this day there are 12 hours of daylight and 12 hours of darkness all over the world, no matter how far north or south you may be.

The equinox is caused by the earth’s position in its orbit around the sun. On all other days of the year, the tilt of the axis causes more sunlight to fall in one hemisphere or the other, causing winter in the northern hemisphere while it’s summer in the southern, and vice versa. But on the Spring and Fall Equinoxes everybody gets 12 and 12.

I am also fascinated by phases of the moon, and many other observable occurrences caused by the movements of the earth, sun, moon, and planets. I have been known go out and measure the angle of the sun in the sky, or measure the sun’s shadow at various times of the day, simply out of curiosity.

Nowadays there are websites a person can use to find out anything he wants to know about angles, length of daylight, and any other calculation he might be curious about. My days of measuring these things directly are probably over too, although I must admit, as I am out walking if I see a straight pole casting a shadow, I may try to estimate the length of the shadow compared to the height of the pole and mentally calculate how high the sun must be right now.

You may be wondering why I’m sharing this with you. Just to show you that I am truly weird? No, that isn’t why. I have mentioned in previous blogs how reassuring I find it that we can count on astronomical line-ups taking place at their appointed times, as they have been for thousands of years. I get excited about tangible evidences of God’s faithfulness. He tells us why He set this all in place: “Then God said, ‘Let there be lights in the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs and seasons, and for days and years’” (Genesis 1:14).

Maybe the equinoxes are also a bit special to me because it sounds like my name is in the word. The name comes from two Latin words: equi meaning “equal,” and nox meaning “night,” because the length of night is equal everywhere on that day. But there’s more than that. What most intrigues me about the equinox is the fact that it is a time of balance, perfect balance between the day and night, and that it’s happening everywhere. But when I celebrate the equinox, it is not a celebration of the sun, the earth, or their motions and angles. I am celebrating the faithfulness of our Creator God.

It has been a few years since I made my last batch of cupcakes, but I remain intrigued at this astronomical line-up that occurs regularly and predictably twice a year.

Happy Equinox Day! I hope spring arrives soon where you are!

Photo from examiner.com

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This morning I was reading Psalm 91. Sometimes when I’m reading something very familiar, I go into it thinking I already know everything it says. But reading God’s Word is like peeling back the layers of an onion with a center you never reach. And today I saw something new.

God is speaking about the one who “dwells in the secret place of the Most High” (v. 1). In verse 14 He says, ”Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My Name.”

This is mind-boggling when we really think about being set on high. God is “on high” in heaven ruling the universe. According to Ephesians 2:6, we are “seated in heavenly places with Christ Jesus.” If so, then we are seated “far above all principality and power and might and dominion, and every name that is named” (Ephesians 1:21), just like Jesus – above every sickness and disease, every negative emotion, every hindrance we may encounter. If we can name it, we are seated above it! How amazing is that!

So many scriptures came flooding into my mind about the authority God has given us in Christ. What really got me excited though was thinking about why I have been set on high. Why have I been given this authority over the power of the enemy? Is it because I wrote a couple of Christian books, or because I was faithful about reading my Bible every day, or went to church when I didn’t really feel like it?

While those might be good things, they aren’t the reason. That’s the really awesome thing about all of this. It has nothing to do with anything I have done or not done. According to Psalm 91:14 God has set me on high, past tense, done deal. I don’t need to earn my way back there every time I miss the mark. I am there for one reason, and that is because I have known His Name.

And this is true about all of us who acknowledge Jesus as the Son of God who died for us. So it isn’t arrogant for me, or you, to say that we have been set on high, or to talk about the authority we have over all the power of the enemy, because it’s not about us. It’s about God; it’s about what Jesus has done for us. We know His Name, and that is enough.

Sometimes it’s hard to see ourselves as ones who are set on high. We may be dealing with fear, doubt, or other negative thoughts and emotions. We may have a problem in our physical body that we don’t appear to be receiving healing for. But this isn’t because we’re not seated on high. God has put us there. It’s because we need a greater revelation of who we really are, and where we really are.

Step number one is getting into that secret place of the Most High, which I am coming to realize more and more means getting into the Word of God, not just reading it but meditating on the verses that stand out. When we come to that place where we truly know His Name, and walk in the power of His Name, we’ll become more and more like who we really are, ones who have been set on high.